NELSONVILLE — Cheerful students passionately work and talk amongst their peers at a long wooden-like conference table while other students are upstairs in a separate room as they work on different assignments. It’s warm enough, which could be appropriate since this program houses the Firefighter/EMS program at Tri-County Career Center and High School.
Firefighting/EMS is a two-year program. Students in their junior year learn the fundamentals of Firefighter I & II, which is when students learn the basics on how to be a firefighter. Seniors finish their Firefighter I & II Professional Firefighter certification and Emergency Medical Technician Basic preparation.
Steve Green, 59, Firefighter/EMS program instructor, and Nelsonville-York alumnus, said that there are multiple different jobs once students get their Fire II certification, including: being a Firefighter, working at a 911 center, working for medical transport and county emergency medical services.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national median pay for firefighters is $57,120 per year and $27.46 per hour. For EMT and paramedics, the median pay is $44,780 per year and $21.53 per hour. In 2023, the number of jobs for firefighters in the United States was 326,800, while EMTs and Paramedics had 270,400.
Students join Firefighter/EMS for a variety of reasons.
“I guess. It’s something that I wanna help people. Maybe I can save someone. Well, I definitely will be able to save someone,” said Abe Gilmore, 16, an Athens junior in the Firefighter/EMS program.
“It’s just been something I’ve always wanted to do.” said Axel Houk, 18, a Logan senior in the program.
One of the projects that students work on is auto-extrication. Students learn how to safely remove car parts and get people out of a damaged vehicle safely without hurting the person.
They use high-power tools to break the car to save the person in danger. If the patient of that accident has not already exited the vehicle, then they could be pinned by the vehicle(s) involved and could be medically or physically trapped.
Students wear their firefighting uniforms to protect themselves from the glass when they cut. They use different techniques to pry open the car to get the patient to a hospital as quickly as they can. When they are done taking apart the car, they will then clean up the area by sweeping up the glass, putting all the tools and parts back in the sheds where they belong, and removing all the debris they took off, like the car doors, and the roof.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “About 25,700 openings for firefighters are projected each year, on average, over the decade.”
Green and the Firefighter/EMS program are among the many great features at Tri-County. Some of the students believe so as well.
“I like how everyone in here is chill. Mr. Green is really funny, and he’s a really good teacher. I like that I don’t have to do normal school all day,” Gilmore said. “I like the environment more than a normal classroom because it’s just fun. It’s better than normal school, and you get to learn a really useful thing.”
According to the Tri-County website, some of the topics that can be learned in the program are fire dynamics, building construction, tactile ventilation, fire suppression, vehicle extrication operations, and Hazardous Materials Awareness.
“I enjoy that program. I think it’s a very, needed program in our communities,” said Tri-County Co-Director Tom McGreevy. “I’ve got to spray the hose. That was fun and intense.”
Char Hurst is a student journalist with Tri-County Career Center and High School’s New Media+ program. This article originally appeared on The 360, a publication of the New Media+ program.
